The Jaafarite Mufti Ahmad Kabalan. (Credit: NNA.)
BEIRUT — Jaafari Mufti Ahmad Qabalan on Friday called the start of the Lebanese Army’s disarmament of Palestinian camps — including Thursday’s kickoff at Burj al-Barajneh in southern Beirut — a "scandal."
The disarmament began in accordance with an agreement reached last May during a visit to Beirut by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, aiming to guarantee the Lebanese state's monopoly on weapons.
In his sermon, the mufti, who is close to the Amal-Hezbollah alliance, denounced "a shameful act that clearly targets the weapons of the resistance, even though this resistance has been Lebanon’s greatest guarantor for over half a century. The current moment calls for preparing a national defense strategy to protect Lebanon. Yet, Washington and certain regional capitals are blocking this, with the underlying intent to eliminate Lebanon’s strength, paving the way for sectarian massacres," Qabalan warned.
Since the government mandated the Lebanese army on Aug. 5 to draft a plan to disarm all armed groups — Hezbollah at the top of the list — before the end of the year, supporters of Amal and Hezbollah have widely criticized Nawaf Salam’s cabinet and threatened internal tensions.
Last Friday, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem multiplied such warnings, declaring that the pro-Iranian party would be ready for a 'confrontation' if forced disarmament was imposed.
Qabalan further deemed it "shameful that the Lebanese state and its government treat the country, its sovereignty, and Israeli aggression affecting residents of the South, the Bekaa, and Beirut’s southern suburbs as if they did not exist or were not Lebanese."
These regions are considered strongholds of Hezbollah. The South is targeted by near-daily Israeli army attacks, despite a truce that went into effect Nov. 27 after 13 months of war between Hezbollah and Israel, while the Bekaa and Beirut’s southern suburbs have also been targeted, though less frequently. Hezbollah itself has fired at Israeli territory only once — on Dec. 1, 2024 — since the cease-fire.
Political revenge and submission
In a lengthy diatribe against the cabinet, Qabalan lashed out at what he sees as Salam’s team having only "political revenge and submission to foreign parties" as its focus. "The government must act to end this extremely dangerous fire that will end up consuming us all," he said.
On Thursday, U.S. envoy Tom Barrack praised the start of the Palestinian camp disarmament, according to AFP. Barrack has visited Lebanon several times, encouraging the state to achieve a complete monopoly on weapons.
He presented a roadmap, approved by the cabinet on Aug. 7, to reach full compliance with the terms of the truce. This "Barrack plan" sets clear deadlines for disarmament and the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Lebanese territories it continues to occupy.
